Aspin Kemp & Associates (AKA) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the contract to supply a diesel-electric power and propulsion system for Bhagwan Marine’s Dive Support Vessel (DSV) that will be constructed in Singapore. With headquarters in Western Australia, Bhagwan Marine services the oil & gas industry with its fleet of support vessels and landing crafts. Designed by Australian naval architects, Incat Crowther, the vessel will be a 56-metre, fully integrated catamaran that will perform key duties such as dive support, geotechnical survey, cargo transport and safety standby.

The Diesel-Electric (D-E) System incorporates AKA’s DC Centric approach used in the company’s XeroPoint Hybrid Marine Propulsion System and it includes a back-up battery system supplied by Corvus Energy. In addition to the D-E system, AKA will provide the energy management system (EMS) for the vessel. As required by Bhagwan Marine, AKA’s highly configurable EMS will provide the vessel with an unprecedented level of operational flexibility and redundancy.

“Given our operational environment, our goal from the onset of this vessel design was to find a power and propulsion system that would allow us to operate at peak efficiency while ensuring safety and emergency measures were in place,” explains Allister Stewart, new projects manager at Bhagwan Marine. “When we learned of AKA’s DC Centric approach to energy and power management, we were delighted with the inherent flexibility and redundancy that we would be able to achieve. Essentially, we can optimize our power plant for each mode of operation that we perform on a regular basis.”

AKA’s Diesel-Electric propulsion system is designed for several customized modes of operation on the DSV, including two “Dynamic Positioning” modes as well as an “Emergency Egress” mode which permits all machinery to be shut down and low speed propulsion and critical hotel loads to be supported by the battery bank. “XeroPoint hybrid has been proven to offer significant benefits in the tugboat market,” describes John Eldridge, hybrid project manager at AKA, “the Diesel-Electric system for Bhagwan’s vessel illustrates additional benefits that we hadn’t considered before we came upon this project. I believe that a key differentiator for us is our ability to provide our clients with a customized system that allows the operator to configure their power plant based on their specific operational requirements; ultimately resulting in improved performance and safety.”

AKA and Bhagwan Marine’s current collaboration has lead to the firms exploring future projects together. Eldridge describes the partnership, “We understand what Bhagwan is trying to achieve and as with all of our clients, we’re willing to work closely with them to ensure the system is exactly what they’re looking for. This collaborative approach results in a win-win situation for both of us.”